Baguette: Tire War Ending a “Big Blow” for SUPER GT

Photo: SUPER GT

Nissan driver Bertrand Baguette has described the looming end of SUPER GT’s tire war as “quite sad” and a “big blow” for the Japanese series as he prepares to commence what will be his 13th season in the GT500 class next week at Okayama.

It was announced last year that the upcoming season will be SUPER GT’s last with multi-make tire competition, as the series prepares to introduce one-make tires in 2027.

Since joining the series in 2014, Baguette spent five years on Dunlop tires with the Nakajima Racing Honda team — earning the Sumitomo Rubber brand its most recent GT500 win at the Suzuka 1000km with Kosuke Matsuura in 2017 — before switching to Bridgestone rubber in 2019 upon his switch to Real Racing.

The 40-year-old, now the eldest driver in the upper category, feels SUPER GT’s appeal will be reduced as a result of adopting single tire suppliers for each class.

“It’s quite sad it’s the last year of the tire war,” Baguette told Sportscar365. “It’s a big blow for the championship for me.

“We can debate whether or not it was needed, but from my point of view, it’s a bad decision to end it. That was one of the reasons why I came here 12 years ago.

“I can say I am happy I did 12 years of developing these tires with this super high performance. I don’t know how the [one-make] tires will be next year, but for sure they will not be as competitive as what we have now.

“When you talk about SUPER GT, it’s one of the last championships in the world with a proper tire war with no restrictions on what you can do.

“The amount of compounds and constructions we try in one year, the feedback we give, the debriefs you do, and what you learn as a driver is unbelievable. It was amazing to be a part of that and it was 60-65 percent of the reason SUPER GT is what it is now.”

Baguette also shared his views on this year’s rule changes, including a revised GT500 success handicap system and reduced fuel flow in the name of extended engine life amid the move from two engines per season to a single unit.

Baseline fuel flow has been reduced from its previous level of 95 kg/h to 90.2 kg/h (equivalent to the old Stage 2 handicap) before success penalties are applied, with only one further reduction, to 88 kg/h, above a 50 kg nominal handicap.

“It’s not good for safety, because the GT300s are already quite fast in a straight line and it’s quite tough to pass them,” said Baguette. “Now it will be even tougher, which means we have to take more risks on braking and in the corners.

“I’m not happy about it for sure, but we have to deal with it.”

On the introduction of pit stop refuelling restrictors, he added: “It depends on how the race goes. If you have to pit after a safety car, you could lose a lot of places, but if you pit normally with no caution, maybe it’s not such a big penalty any more.

“I think it’s a good thing for Toyota because their fuel consumption is better than Honda or Nissan. Already they were generally faster than us in the pit stops, and the less fuel you have to put in the car at the pit stop, the less of a penalty it is.”

Baguette and his Team Impul co-driver Kazuki Hiramine go into the 2026 campaign hoping to add to their 2022 title, which remains the last one in GT500 for any team other than Toyota’s flagship team TOM’S and the GR Supra.

While generally positive about the changes Nissan has made to the Z NISMO over the winter in a bid to close the gap to Toyota, the Belgian cautioned that on current form the No. 36 TOM’S car of Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita will be hard to stop.

“The No. 36 has been consistent in testing, whatever the weather, whatever the track,” said Baguette. “We will try for sure but it will be difficult to beat them.

“My target is to try and be fighting for the championship until the last race, and to win a race, because we haven’t done that for a long time.

“With the evolutions we brought, I think we can be competitive, so I hope we can win one and at least put some pressure on the No. 36, even if they are still the big favorites.”

Source: Sports Car 365